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A homemade from scratch snack cake made with peanut butter and finished with a caramel cream cheese frosting.
Homemade Peanut Butter Snack Cake with Caramel Cream Cheese Frosting
If you've been around my blog any length of time, you already know I'm far more of a savory cook than I am a baker. Primarily that's simply because I'm not a huge sweets person.
It's not that I don't enjoy sweets because I absolutely do, and those beautiful desserts that pass by us all on social media certainly get my mouth watering, but I'm more likely to crave a bag of potato chips over something sweet.
I'm just more of a salty gal!
Just a quick reminder.... if you aren't interested in the chit chat, info, photos, tips and such on a blog, as always, you'll find the complete recipe text with measurements and instructions, as well as a printable document, a little bit further down the page. Just swipe or scroll down to the bottom of the post!
Still... cake? Yeah that's my jam for sure when it comes to sweets and I have a few top favorites!
- Texas Sheet Cake
- Mandarin Orange "Pig Pickin'" Cake
- Classic Red Velvet Cake
- German Chocolate Cake
- Southern Pound Cake
- Mississippi Mud Cake
Here's what you'll need to make my Homemade Peanut Butter Snack Cake:
For the Cake:
2-1/3 cups all-purpose flour
1-1/2 cups granulated sugar
3 teaspoons baking powder
1/2 teaspoon kosher salt
1/2 cup (1 stick) unsalted butter, cubed, at room temperature
1 cup whole milk
1/2 cup creamy peanut butter
2 large eggs, at room temperature
1 teaspoon pure vanilla extract
For the Frosting:
1 (8 ounce) block cream cheese, at room temperature
1/2 cup (1 stick) unsalted butter, at room temperature
1 teaspoon pure vanilla extract
1 cup homemade or commercial caramel sauce
2 cups powdered sugar, more or less
Here's how to make it!
Preheat oven to 350 degrees F. Butter and flour a 9 x 13 inch baking pan.
In a large mixing bowl, or the bowl of stand mixer using the paddle attachment, mix together the flour, sugar, baking powder and salt for 2 minutes.
Add the cubed softened butter to the flour mixture.
Mix on low another 2 minutes, or until mixture resembles sand.
Add the milk.
Add the peanut butter.
Beat in the eggs one at a time until fully incorporated.
Mix on low until fully incorporated, do not over-beat.
Pour into the prepared 9 x 13 inch baking pan.
Use an offset spatula or back of a spoon to smooth out batter evenly.
Bake at 350 degrees F for about 25 to 30 minutes, or until a toothpick inserted into the center comes back clean. Set aside to cool completely before frosting.
For the frosting, add the cream cheese and butter to the clean mixer bowl.
Add vanilla.
Mix using the paddle attachment, on medium until smooth, about 2 to 3 minutes. Add the powdered sugar, 1/2 cup at a time, mixing until fluffy. Add the chilled caramel and beat until smooth, about 4 to 5 minutes.
Add the frosting to the cooled cake.
Spread all over evenly.
Cut into squares for serving. Store leftovers in the refrigerator, but bring to room temperature before serving for best quality.
Quick note. One of the biggest baking questions I see often from home cooks, especially with cakes made in a 9 x 13-inch pan is...
What caused my cake to fall in the middle?
Now seeing as I'm not an accomplished baker, I'm certainly no expert, but I have learned that there can be a number of reasons for that kind of fail. Inaccurate oven temperatures overall where your oven thermostat doesn't agree with an oven thermometer is one of the bigger ones. If you're operating with an older range, this is a very common one so I would recommend putting a thermometer in your oven to see if there is a difference between your oven's thermostat and the actual internal temp in the oven.
The other reason involves fluctuations in temperature in the early stages of baking and that, very often, is caused by opening the oven door too early! Just remember that you shouldn't open the oven door until the very latter stages of the end of the baking process to check for crumb and you'll usually find this problem resolves.
For more of my favorite cake recipes, check out the collection on my Pinterest page!
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